Painted Minis Arrive, Part 4: 17th Lancers

This is the last installment of the series of reviews for the minis I sent to White Ape Painting Studio to have painted. It was a first for me, and I sent Cathy a small batch of minis that had been sitting for years waiting to be painted, as new purchases kept getting placed in front of them. Eventually, I realized that while I did want - heck, I needed! - these minis for the gaming table, I just was not going to ever paint them myself.

This last batch was twelve 15mm British colonial lancers, from Old Glory, IIRC. I asked that they be painted as the 17th Lancers, circa 1870-1880. Cathy doesn't paint a lot of historicals, she tells me, so I sent along a few pictures as references for her. Here's what I got back:

Not a bad looking unit, all told.

The rough coat on the horses is actually my fault. I had primed them already when I sent them to be painted, and the spray I used left a bad grainy finish on parts of the horses. you can kind of see it in this photo. I am happy with the face and details on this particular lancer.My only real disappointment with Cathy's figures were the three light-colored horses in the lancers. All of them are going to need touching up, as you can see in the photo below. The riders are fine, but the shading got a bit out of hand on the horses and I think in her hurry to get the minis returned to me in time for Historicon next month, she just missed neatening them up. I could send them back to her - she guarantees her work - but for this little bit of fix-it, I don't think the wait and the postage would be worth the trouble.

Overall, I was pleased with Cathy's service. She kept in touch and responded pretty quickly to my emails. She sent plenty of pictures and fixed a few details on the lancers when I pointed them out (example: she had painted the sabre scabbards white instead of bright steel - difficult to tell from the pictures I sent, and white matched the belts and such). For $2 per 15mm cavalry, I think it was a good deal.

So, if you are thinking about sending some of your massive lead pile out to be whittled down, I would say give Cathy at White Ape a try. I will be sending her some more business in the future, after all my Historicon spending is done and I get back to a 'normal' gaming budget.

[Post Script Added 06.10.09: Cathy has offered to refund my money on the three cavalry figures I am not satisfied with. Sounds more than fair to me. I like doing business with folks like this, who stand behind their work.]